Flexible distributed antenna array

Abstract

A communication system includes multiple distributed antenna circuits and an access point (AP). The distributed antenna circuits include at least first and second antenna circuits. The AP is coupled to the distributed antenna circuits and includes multiple transmit chains, multiple receive chains, and an antenna control circuit communicatively coupled to the transmit chains and the receive chains. The first antenna circuit is co-located with the AP and the second antenna circuit is remote from the AP. The antenna control circuit is configured to determine a subset of the distributed antenna circuits to communicatively couple to at least some of the transmit chains to transmit data to a wireless station (STA) that is in range of the subset.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A communication system, comprising:
 a plurality of distributed antenna circuits, including at least a first antenna circuit and a second antenna circuit; and 
 an access point (AP) coupled to the plurality of distributed antenna circuits, the AP including:
 a plurality of transmit chains; 
 a plurality of receive chains; and 
 an antenna control circuit communicatively coupled to the plurality of transmit chains and the plurality of receive chains, 
 wherein: 
 the first antenna circuit is co-located with the AP and the second antenna circuit is remote from the AP; and 
 the antenna control circuit is configured to determine a subset of the plurality of distributed antenna circuits to communicatively couple to at least some of the plurality of transmit chains to transmit data to a wireless station (STA) that is in range of the subset of the plurality of distributed antenna circuits. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The communication system of  claim 1 , wherein the first antenna circuit and the AP are located in or a near a first room of a premises and the second antenna circuit is located in or a near a different second room of the premises. 
     
     
       3. The communication system of  claim 2 , wherein:
 the plurality of distributed antenna circuits further includes a third antenna circuit; 
 the third antenna circuit is located in a different location of the premises than the first antenna circuit or the second antenna circuit. 
 
     
     
       4. The communication system of  claim 1 , wherein the second antenna circuit comprises an antenna in a different room or location of a premises than the AP, the antenna configured to radiate a wireless signal from an analog signal received from the AP. 
     
     
       5. The communication system of  claim 1 , wherein the second antenna circuit comprises:
 a power amplifier remote from the AP and configured to amplify an analog signal received from the AP; and 
 an antenna co-located with and coupled to the power amplifier, the antenna configured to radiate a wireless signal from the amplified analog signal. 
 
     
     
       6. The communication system of  claim 1 , wherein the second antenna circuit comprises:
 a radio frequency (RF) upconverter remote from the AP and configured to upconvert an analog signal received from the AP; 
 a power amplifier co-located with and coupled to the RF upconverter, the power amplifier configured to amplify the analog signal upconverted by the RF upconverter; and 
 an antenna co-located with the RF upconverter and the power amplifier, the antenna coupled to the power amplifier and configured to radiate a wireless signal from the amplified analog signal. 
 
     
     
       7. The communication system of  claim 1 , wherein the second antenna circuit comprises:
 an analog front end (AFE) radio frequency (RF) circuit remote from the AP and configured to convert a digital signal received from the AP to an analog signal and filter, upconvert, and amplify the analog signal; and 
 an antenna co-located with and coupled to the AFE RF circuit, the antenna configured to radiate a wireless signal from the analog signal. 
 
     
     
       8. The communication system of  claim 1 , wherein the second antenna circuit comprises a radiohead. 
     
     
       9. The communication system of  claim 1 , further comprising one or more hardwired communication lines communicatively coupling the AP to the second antenna circuit, the one or more hardwired communication lines comprising at least one of: coaxial cable, telephone cable, category 5 cable, category 5e cable, category 6 cable, or optical fiber. 
     
     
       10. The communication system of  claim 1 , wherein a number of the plurality of distributed antenna circuits is greater than a number of the plurality of transmit chains. 
     
     
       11. The communication system of  claim 1 , wherein the antenna control circuit is further configured to implement at least one of:
 beamforming using the plurality of distributed antenna circuits to transmit the data from the AP to the STA; or 
 multi-user (MU)-multiple input multiple output (MIMO) transmission using the plurality of distributed antenna circuits to simultaneously transmit different data from the AP to two or more STAs. 
 
     
     
       12. A method to communicate using a plurality of distributed antenna circuits in a communication system, the method comprising:
 determining a subset of the plurality of distributed antenna circuits to communicatively couple to at least some of a plurality of transmit chains of an access point (AP) to transmit data from the AP to a wireless station (STA) that is in range of the subset of the plurality of distributed antenna circuits, wherein determining the subset of the plurality of distributed antenna circuits comprises determining that the STA is in range of a given antenna circuit of the subset, the given antenna circuit being remote from the AP; 
 communicatively coupling the subset of the plurality of distributed antenna circuits, including the given antenna circuit, to the at least some of the plurality of transmit chains; and 
 directing the data from the at least some of the plurality of transmit chains to the subset of the plurality of distributed antenna circuits, including the given antenna circuit. 
 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 12 , further comprising the given antenna circuit radiating a wireless signal representing data received from the AP without performing any WiFi processing on the data received from the AP before radiating the wireless signal. 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 13 , further comprising transmitting the data from the subset of the plurality of distributed antenna circuits to the STA. 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 12 , wherein directing the data from the at least some of the plurality of transmit chains to the subset of the plurality of distributed antenna circuits, including the given antenna circuit, comprises directing at least some of the data from the AP in a first room or location of a premises to the given antenna circuit in a different second room or location of the premises. 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 12 , wherein directing the data from the at least some of the plurality of transmit chains to the subset of the plurality of distributed antenna circuits comprises directing the data over one or more hardwired communication lines coupled between the AP and the plurality of distributed antenna circuits. 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 12 , wherein directing the data from the at least some of the plurality of transmit chains to the subset of the plurality of distributed antenna circuits comprises directing an analog signal to the subset of the plurality of distributed antenna circuits, each of the plurality of distributed antenna circuits comprising an antenna configured to radiate a wireless signal from the analog signal. 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 12 , wherein directing the data from the at least some of the plurality of transmit chains to the subset of the plurality of distributed antenna circuits comprises directing a modulated digital signal to the subset of the plurality of distributed antenna circuits, each of the plurality of distributed antenna circuits comprising a digital to analog converter (DAC) configured to convert the modulated digital signal to an analog signal and an antenna configured to radiate a wireless signal from the analog signal. 
     
     
       19. The method of  claim 12 , wherein the data is directed to the subset of the plurality of distributed antenna circuits at a first time, the method further comprising:
 determining a second subset of the plurality of distributed antenna circuits to communicatively couple to one or more of the plurality of transmit chains of the AP to transmit second data from the AP to the STA that is in range of the second subset of the plurality of distributed antenna circuits at a second time that is subsequent to the first time; 
 communicatively coupling the second subset of the plurality of distributed antenna circuits to the one or more of the plurality of transmit chains; and 
 directing the second data from the one or more of the plurality of transmit chains to the second subset of the plurality of distributed antenna circuits. 
 
     
     
       20. The method of  claim 12 , further comprising implementing at least one of:
 beamforming using the plurality of distributed antenna circuits to transmit the data from the AP to the STA; or 
 multi-user (MU)-multiple input multiple output (MIMO) transmission using the plurality of distributed antenna circuits to simultaneously transmit different data from the AP to two or more STAs.